Concept of Sustainable Tourism:

It is a derivative of general concept of sustainable development which attempts to make a low impact on
the environment and local culture, while helping to generate income, employment and conservation of
local ecosystems. It is both ecologically and culturally sensitive. The concept of sustainable development
provides an organizing concept for the development of ecotourism initiatives.

It tends to see the pursuit of sustainable tourism development as involving the balancing of social,
economic and environmental goals. Its purpose is to counter the threats resulting from unmanaged
tourism. Sustainable tourism sees tourism within destination areas as a triangular relationship between
host areas and their habitats and peoples, holidaymakers, and the tourism industry.

The tourism industry dominated the triangle and, in this context, sustainable tourism aims to reconcile
the tensions between the three partners in the triangle, and keep the equilibrium in the long term.
Further, it aims to minimize environmental and cultural damage, optimize visitor satisfaction, and
maximize long-term economic growth for the region. It is a way of obtaining a balance between the
growth potential of tourism and the conservation needs of the environment.

Tourism is seen as an agent for rural economic regeneration and as a way of valorizing conservation.
But, rural environment is a very fragile one because it changes or experiences damages easily due to
rapid changes of any sort; and tourism is a powerful agent for change.

This is an important issue because of the role rural areas play in many countries as repositories of both
natural and historical heritage and also important commercially. Therefore, ‘rurality’ is a unique selling
point for holidays in the countryside. Tourists look for high quality and unspoiled scenery, for peace,
quiet and solitude. Tourism growth in course of time would destroy rurality and induce the onset of
negative impacts on the environment, cultures and economies.

However, the concept of sustainable tourism, if followed, would serve as a strong agent to counter
negative impacts that result from tourism. Sustainability of rural tourism includes different aspects such
as sustaining the culture and character of host communities, sustaining landscape and habitats,
sustaining rural economy and sustaining tourism industry.

Principles of Sustainable Tourism:

Bramwell and Lane (1993) outlined four basic principles of sustainable ecotourism development in
line with the sustainable development concept:

 holistic planning and strategy making;

 preservation of essential ecological processes;
 protection of both human heritage and biodiversity; and
 development to ensure that productivity can be sustained over the long term for future
generations.
Tourism Concern (1991) has developed ten sustainable principles for sustainable ecotourism in
association with the World Wildlife Fund for Nature:

1. Using resources sustainably

2. Reducing over-consumption and waste

3. Maintaining biodiversity

4. Integrating tourism into planning

5. Supporting local economies

6. Involving local communities

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7. Consulting stakeholders and the public

8. Training staff

9. Marketing tourism responsibly

10. Undertaking research.

These principles suggest proper care, planning and monitoring of ecotourism destinations. Some such
measures include prevention of damage to environmental resources, acting as a force for conservation,
development and implementation of sound environmental policies in all areas of tourism, installation of
appropriate systems to minimize pollution from tourism developments, development and
implementation of sustainable transport policies, adherence to the precautionary principle, research,
establishment and abiding by carrying capacity of a destination, respecting the rights and needs of local
people, protecting and supporting the cultural and historical heritage of peoples worldwide, carrying out
practices in a responsible and ethical manner, and actively discouraging the growth of exploitative sex
tourism.

Support for local economies and conservation can take different forms. Potential economic benefits
include foreign exchange earnings, employment, infrastructure development, long-term economic
stability and economic diversification. Ecotourism opportunities will be lost if the resilience of an area
and the ability of its community to absorb impact are exceeded, or if its biodiversity and physical
appearance are significantly altered. These two perspectives on sustainable tourism development clearly
have much in common, and both advocate a holistic approach to environmental management in order
to avoid tyranny of incrementalism.

The view of sustainable tourism development is one that uses resources sustainably, that reduces over
consumption and waste, that maintains cultural, social, and natural diversity and that integrates tourism
development into national development policy. The concept of sustainability generally is the one in
which a new development does not damage natural, social, economic or cultural diversity.

Ecotourism very well imbibes into sustainable tourism as a means of maintaining the social, cultural and
natural environment of the community. Ecotourism sustainability also aims to increase the awareness
and understanding of local cultures and local environments through the participation of local people.
Strategies of Sustainable Tourism:

Sustainable tourism is different from conventional tourism and accordingly the strategies also differ.
Conventional tourism plans are mostly dominated by the growth requirements of the tourism industry.
They are either marketing plans or capital investment plans and both are usually designed to increase
traffic, visitor numbers, turnover and job creation.

Further, they seek to exploit national and community resources with little regard for community, culture
or enterprise. On the other hand, sustainable tourism plans are based on a wider, more holistic, regional
analysis. The plans are based on the concepts which have been refined and tested in practice in many
places.

Their hallmarks are:

1. An analysis of an area’s social, economic, ecological and cultural needs.

2. An analysis of an area’s tourism assets and the constraints on future tourism development.

3. A discussion of how best tourism could be used as a tool for social, economic, ecological and cultural
regeneration.

4. A strong measure of local participation in both the plan-making process and in any ongoing decision-
making.

5. A careful consideration of the visitor carrying capacities, and the type and scale of developments
suitable for each part of the region. This may include decisions to allocate some areas for intensive use,
to make some areas less accessible on conservation grounds and to set overall limits to growth.

Sustainable tourism strategies should be produced keeping in view some key issues. The person or team
formulating the strategy should have skills not only in tourism development but also in economic,
ecological and social analysis. While local knowledge is useful, impartiality is much more vital if trust is
to be maintained amongst the many parties taking part in the strategy-making process.

Wide consultations amongst all interest groups are essential and these consultations should include
trade and business, transport, farmers, administrators and the custodians of the natural and historic
assets of the area. Glasnost (“openness”) has a very special role to play. Tourism relies on local goodwill
more than any other industry.

The local population must be happy with their visitors, and secure in the knowledge that the visitor
influx will not overwhelm their lives, increase their housing costs, and impose new and unwelcome value
systems on them. Openness can be achieved by public discussions, by careful use of the press, radio and
television, and by the development of a two-way dialogue with the community.

The strategy-making process should not be a once-only affair. It has to be an evolving long-term
enterprise, able to cope with change, and able to admit to its own mistakes and shortcomings. It is the
beginning of a partnership between business, government and cultural and conservation interests. With
these key issues included, sustainable tourism strategies would produce rewarding results and sustain
tourism benefiting all.